REPORT: DROUGHT WORSENS IN KEY FARM STATES

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The latest U.S. drought map shows that excessively parched conditions continue to worsen in the Plains states that are key producers of corn and soybean crops.

The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor map released Thursday shows that the amount of the contiguous U.S. mired in drought conditions dropped a little more than 1 percentage point, to 78.14 percent. But the expanse still gripped by extreme or exceptional drought rose nearly 2 percentage points to 24.14 percent.